The Show Must Go On!
by RedQueenMiku
Summary: When Lemmy Koopa is suddenly kidnapped, the situation seems black and white. As Lemmy quickly learns, though, there's much more to what's going on than what can be seen on the surface. (features multiple OCs and several censored instances of swearing)
1. Kidnapped!

Lemmy Koopa trudged down the scorching hot sidewalk on yet another blazing summer day. It had been so hot in the Darklands lately that everyone could have sworn it was turning into a replica of Desert Land. Lemmy had never been a fan of Desert Land. In fact, his favorite place was actually Ice Land, but there was no going there at this time of year. With even Ice Land warming up, the ice was becoming too thin to safely traverse, even for Lemmy being as light as he was.

Lemmy pulled out his magic wand and blew a quick gust of frosty wind into his sweaty face. Lemmy and each of his seven siblings each had a special kind of magic. His oldest brother, Ludwig, had lightning magic, Roy had shadow magic, Wendy had water magic, Morton had earth magic, Larry had fire magic, Jr. had paint magic, and Lemmy's twin brother, Iggy, had plant magic. Around this time of year, Lemmy was glad to have ice magic. Lemmy always liked the cold better.

Lemmy suddenly stopped. Just across the street, he saw a Koopa Troopa family standing out in front of their house. The mother and father were watching their two children playing ball in the yard. Lemmy, ecstatic, immediately ran across the street to ask if he could play too. Even at the age of fifteen, Lemmy was still a child at heart. He even looked like a child, so, to those who didn't know any better, he really was a child.

As Lemmy was running across the street, he saw the two Koopa Troopa children staring at him. All of a sudden, the daddy Koopa Troopa stood up and ran toward Lemmy, but Lemmy didn't stop to question why. Before the Koopa Troopa could reach him, though, Lemmy heard the screeching of tires on the asphalt. He quickly turned to see a humongous semi truck stopped just inches from him. Lemmy began to run out of the way of the truck, wondering how he hadn't heard it coming, but, just then, a masked stranger stepped out in front of him. He turned back, but there was another stranger there too. The Koopa Troopa tried to attack one of them, but he was knocked aside before even getting a blow in. One of the strangers grabbed Lemmy and tied a rough cloth around his mouth before dragging him to the back of the truck and shoving him in. The last thing Lemmy saw was the dirty smirk of one of the strangers before the doors to the back of the truck slammed shut.

* * *

Iggy Koopa tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently. He wondered if Lemmy had forgotten that Iggy had asked him to run an errand for him or if he was just getting held up. Lemmy tended to forget things at the worst times, so Iggy rarely ever relied on him to run errands, but today was different. Today, Iggy needed something for a secret project he and Lemmy were working on, so he had stayed behind to monitor the project since he knew that Lemmy would be too easily distracted and sent Lemmy out to get the last few items they needed.

Iggy turned to stare at the incomplete project once more. When it was done, it would allow him and Lemmy to become invisible and play pranks on everyone in the castle, including Bowser, or "King Dad" as the Koopalings called him. They just needed a couple more ingredients, which Lemmy had gone out to get. Iggy let out a sigh. He hoped that Lemmy would come back soon. Everyone in the castle was out, so it would be the perfect opportunity for the twins to finish their invisibility serum without worry of being interrupted or prematurely discovered.

Just then, Iggy heard a bunch of noise coming from downstairs. He let out a groan as he realized that the rest of the family had come home. Hearing Bowser call for him, he begrudgingly left the serum behind and trudged downstairs.

"Why didn't you want to come shopping with us, Iggy?" Wendy asked him after he arrived downstairs.

"I didn't even _want_ to go..." Larry said with a groan.

"Well, were you about to stay home with the mad scientist twins instead?" Ludwig interjected. Larry was about to reply, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Where is Lemmy, anyway?" Bowser asked. Iggy stood silent for a moment, trying to think of a good excuse for Lemmy's absence.

"He...He's sleeping! Yeah, he got pretty tired, so he took a nap. He's upstairs sleeping right now."

Bowser replied with a nod before beginning to walk away, but, before anyone had the chance to leave the room, there was a knock on the big wooden front door. Bowser pulled it open and found a lone Koopa Troopa standing there, trembling like a leaf with a face paler than Iggy had ever seen a Koopa get.

"What's wrong, Private?" Bowser asked. The soldier froze for a second before stumbling through a reply.

"L-Lord Bowser, s-sir...I w-was with my family in my front yard when I saw one of your sons. He ran across the street...t-to play with my children, s-sir..."

"Lemmy," Iggy mumbled, eyes wide. The other Koopalings shot Iggy a glare for lying to them.

"B-but, just then..." the Koopa Troopa continued, "There was this truck-"

"What's happened to my son?!" Bowser roared. The Koopa Troopa took a step back, looking like he would faint in horror right then and there.

"H-he's still alive!" the Koopa Troopa stuttered, "B-but he's been k-k-kidnapped..."

Iggy's eyes widened. It couldn't be true, could it? Lemmy couldn't be gone, right?

"Find Kamek for me," Bowser barked, "I want every single one of my troops on watch for my son. I want Lemmy found. Any soldier who deserts this mission faces the worst of my wrath, understand?"

The Koopa Troopa nodded before racing off to find Kamek.

"Should we go too, King Dad?" Ludwig asked.

"No," Bowser said sternly, "In fact, I don't want any of you leaving the castle. I don't want another one of you getting captured too. That's an order, not just from your father, but from your king. Understand?"

The Koopa children all nodded in reply. Tears began to stream down Iggy's face. If he hadn't sent Lemmy out like that, this wouldn't be happening.

"Thank you, children," Bowser said, "I promise you, I will have your brother found and returned to this castle safely. Just leave it to me and my troops." The Koopa King then gave a weak smile before leaving to follow the Koopa Troopa.

* * *

Finally, the doors to the back of the truck opened again, blinding poor Lemmy Koopa with the harsh light. After riding in the dark for several hours, the little Koopaling found it hard to get readjusted to the light. He was suddenly grabbed by his hair and pulled up onto his feet. His hands had been bound during the trip, but his feet had been left unbound, so he was still able to stand up. He was then shoved into the corner and told to stay put.

Lemmy thought of the trip. The entire way, he had to listen to his captors talking amongst themselves. Most of their conversation was planning for what Bowser would do if he found out about the kidnapping accompanied with lots of swearing. At the beginning of the trip, Lemmy struggled against his bonds a few times, but each time was met with harsh retribution. Even now, Lemmy could feel his right eye throbbing from where he'd been smacked.

He began to tear up at the thought of what his twin brother, Iggy, must be thinking right now. He suddenly remembered that he was supposed to have been getting supplies for his and his brother's invisibility serum project, but that was the least of the tiny Koopaling's worries at the moment.

"Get up, runt," an order came from across the room. Lemmy struggled to get up, but it was proving to be harder than first presented. He was suddenly pulled up by his hair once more and made to look into the eyes of one of his captors. He was a scrawny-looking young man with a bright green mohawk and chilling blue eyes. Under his left eye there was a distinctive scar and, in his left hand, he held a bloodstained chain. The man yanked off the gag around Lemmy's mouth and glared at him menacingly.

"Lemmy Koopa, is it?" the young man growled, "I was hoping for the littlest, Bowser Jr., but you'll do. I'm Arrow and you'll do exactly what I say when I say it. Understand?"

"I-I'm not scared of you," Lemmy retorted, quickly bracing himself to be slapped once again, but, this time, he was simply tossed back onto the floor.

"Not scared of me, are you?" Arrow said with a grin, "Well, what about the rest of my gang?"

Just then, from the shadows, there emerged another four thugs. One of them was a huge, musclebound man that Arrow introduced as Bruise. Another was a young man with long black hair pulled back into a small ponytail who was twirling a pistol in his hand. This one was introduced as Dagger. Another was a ginger-haired woman in a tight-fitting dress wearing an almost gaudy amount of makeup and playing with a small knife in her perfectly-manicured hands. This woman was introduced as Poison. The last one was an insane-looking woman with wide green eyes and a crazed grin. Her long brown hair was completely shaved off on one side and she was handling a syringe in a way Lemmy wasn't sure he liked. This woman was introduced as Chaos.

"Still not afraid, shrimp?" Arrow mocked the little Koopaling. Lemmy trembled at the sight of his captors. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to keep from crying. He didn't know what these thugs wanted with him, but he knew it couldn't possibly be anything good.

* * *

Bowser swept his gaze over the soldiers assembled in front of him. Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Boos, Magikoopas, Shy Guys, Bob-ombs; everything in his arsenal all standing here waiting for his orders...all waiting to help him find his lost son. Truth be told, even with all of these soldiers, Bowser was still worried about Lemmy's safety. Someone had once carelessly said that Bowser only cared about Jr. out of all of his children. That someone very quickly became a victim of Bowser's searing fire breath. It was true that Jr. was his heir, but he still cared deeply about all of his children.

"Lord Bowser," Kamek, Bowser's trusted advisor, called to the Koopa king, "We are ready for your orders."

"Thank you, Kamek," Bowser said before stepping forward to address his troops.

* * *

Iggy's conscience was bugging him to no end. On the one hand, he knew that there was no way he could have known that Lemmy would be kidnapped, but, on the other hand, he felt like it was his fault the incident happened in the first place. If he hadn't sent Lemmy out on that stupid errand, he wouldn't have been kidnapped at all.

"Iggy?"

Iggy turned to see Larry standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" Iggy snapped.

"I just thought that, y'know, you might want someone to stay with you tonight, what with...well..."

"I get it and I don't want you here. Leave."

Larry just stood there for a moment while Iggy glared at him. Larry couldn't possibly understand what Iggy was going through right now.

"I know you're worried about Lemmy," Larry finally said, "but just sitting there and moping about it isn't going to help anything. King Dad's going to find him. He promised."

Larry stared at Iggy a moment longer. Iggy's expression had relaxed, but his gaze was still fixed directly on his younger brother. It looked to be making Larry somewhat nervous.

"If you want..." Larry said after a moment, "I could-"

"Come with me to find Lemmy," Iggy demanded. Larry reeled back.

"B-but King Dad told us to stay in the castle! What happens if we get kidnapped too?!"

"Keep your voice down, mushbrain. We're not gonna get kidnapped."

"But how are we going to get out of the castle? King Dad's got his best Koopatrols guarding all the entrances and exits."

"With this," Iggy replied, grabbing the incomplete invisibility serum, "It's not quite complete yet, though. I had sent Lemmy out to get the last two ingredients. We need some acetic acid and something to hold it all together..."

"What's acetic acid?"

"Well, it's-" Just then, Iggy smacked himself in the forehead.

"What?" Larry asked.

"Acetic acid is vinegar...I'd completely forgotten. I work with so many acids, I tend to forget which is which."

Larry was quiet for a moment.

"That's both relieving and terrifying at the same time..."

"It's not like it'll burn a hole through your stomach or something. It's not one of those kinds of acids...in moderation..." Iggy finished with a maniacal grin. Larry shuddered. It made Iggy feel a little better to be mischievous and scare Larry a bit.

"So what's that last thing?" Larry said.

"I'm not sure," Iggy mumbled, "I was just going to have Lemmy get a bunch of stuff for us to test, but we can't do that now..."

"...What about glue?" Larry spoke up, "I mean, glue holds stuff together, right?"

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Iggy said, "Now go get the glue so we can test it out."

Larry stood bewildered for a moment before leaving the room to fulfill Iggy's request. Iggy swirled the test tube with the incomplete serum in his hand, letting the liquid slosh from side to side.

"This had better work..."


	2. Under the Radar

Wendy O. Koopa was a sensible young woman. She knew that her father could find Lemmy and get him home just like he said. Still, though, she was worried. She had to wonder, was Lemmy worried too? Was he okay wherever he was? Wendy felt a sick feeling in her stomach the more she thought of what Lemmy must be going through. She thought that, if she got a little something to eat, maybe it would get rid of the uneasiness she was feeling, so she headed toward the kitchen. As soon as she entered the room, though, she found her little brother, Larry, rummaging through the cabinets looking for something.

"Larry?" Wendy called to her brother, "What are you doing?"

"Just looking for something for Iggy." Larry replied, continuing to dig around in the cabinet.

"It's so sweet that you're looking out for him," Wendy said, "He really needs it, what with his one and only twin brother missing in action."

"Uh-huh," Larry grunted, not turning from his search.

"I mean," Wendy continued, "Who knows what Lemmy could be going through right now? What if he's in real danger? What if he's hurt? It must be really hard on Iggy right now, knowing that his twin brother could be cold, hungry, and alone...or even injured!...or...worse..."

"Got it!" Larry shouted. He backed out of the cabinet lugging a huge container of vinegar with him.

"Why does Iggy need that?" Wendy asked.

"No reason," Larry replied. He grabbed a nearby bottle of glue and started out of the room. Wendy stood bewildered for a moment before shrugging the whole thing off.

"Iggy's so weird..."

* * *

"I got it, Iggy!"

Iggy whirled around to see Larry lugging a large container of vinegar in his right hand and carrying a bottle of glue in his left.

"Perfect!" Iggy said, running over to Larry and taking the vinegar from him immediately. He opened it up and poured a little of it into the test tube. He then motioned for Larry to hand him the glue.

"We only have one shot at this," Iggy muttered, "So let's hope this works..."

Iggy squeezed a small drop of glue into the solution and immediately placed the glass tube over a small burner.

"What now?" Larry asked.

"We wait," Iggy replied, "If we leave it on the burner all night tonight, it should be ready in the morning."

"All right then," Larry said, beginning to leave the room, "I guess this is good night, then. Night, Iggy."

"Wait," Iggy called to his little brother. Larry stopped short and stared back at Iggy. Iggy choked on his words for a moment before they finally came out.

"W-would you...stay with me tonight?"

"Sure, bro," Larry said with a smile. Iggy smiled back. They'd find Lemmy soon, he knew it.

* * *

"Get up, runt!"

Lemmy's eyes slowly opened. He had slept on the cold floor and he was feeling extremely stiff as a result. He looked up to see Arrow glaring at him.

"Get the *** up! We're moving out!"

"What?" Lemmy said confusedly. Arrow groaned in exasperation.

"Bruise! Get over here and throw this kid back into the truck!" Arrow called to his cohort. In a minute, Bruise strode across the room, yanked Lemmy up off of the floor, and carried him back out to the truck. Lemmy, afraid of being smacked again, especially by this musclebound lug, simply let himself be carried. Once there, Lemmy was once again tossed into the back of the truck as the doors closed. This time, though, there was light, so Lemmy could see that he was riding with Dagger and Chaos. Just then, the truck lurched forward, throwing Lemmy straight at Dagger and knocking the both of them to the floor.

"Agh!" Dagger growled, "*** kid! Watch it!" He then kicked Lemmy back across the truck. Lemmy hit the wall hard, then slid to the floor. He tried to sit up, but his pain wouldn't permit him to, so he just slumped to the floor.

"Little ***," Dagger continued.

"It's not his fault," Chaos said, "Of course, putting him down might not be that bad of an idea..."

"Shut up, Chaos," Dagger snapped, "You know that we can't be injecting the kid with anything, even narcotics."

"Why not?" Lemmy asked weakly. He was genuinely curious.

"I'm about to punch that little ***..." Dagger snarled.

"Kid's got a point, Dagger. Why can't I inject him?"

"You know this, Chaos!" Dagger retorted, "We're holding the kid captive to get a ransom from King Bowser and we can't do that if he's dead. We can't take a risk and find out he's allergic to the *** narcotic, you idiot."

"Ransom?" Lemmy mused. Didn't these people know who his father was? Didn't they know he could have the entire Koopa army on their tails in seconds?

Just then, the truck stopped. A minute afterward, the doors opened. Even though it was still dark out, he could just make out Arrow, Poison, and Bruise's figures.

"What's up?" Chaos asked.

"That *** set up truck inspection stations. You two're gonna hafta take the kid, go through the forest, and meet us on the other side."

"Just our *** luck..." Dagger cursed. Chaos pulled Lemmy up off of the floor and they, along with Dagger, exited the truck and made for the thick woods ahead.

* * *

Iggy awoke with a start. He shot up and began breathing heavily. His own soft green curls fell into his face and he could feel the sweat running down his forehead. He glanced over at the clock and saw that it was now three in the morning. In the bunk above him, Larry was still sleeping soundly. On the other side of the room, there was a soft glow coming from the electric bunsen burner that was heating up the invisibility serum.

Iggy reached for his glasses and put them on as he left the room. As he strode down the hall, he tried to forget about the nightmare he'd just awoken from. He was worried sick about Lemmy and it was beginning to affect his dreams as well.

He decided he'd go to the kitchen to get something to eat. He'd skipped dinner and his stomach was giving him heck for it now. As he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to find Roy there as well. He tried to turn back before Roy noticed him, but, just then, Roy turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Roy asked him, "Can't sleep?"

"Something like that..." Iggy replied, "What are you doing down here?"

"I come down here every night," Roy answered with a grin.

"That figures..." Iggy thought to himself.

"We just ran out of peanut butter, by the way," Roy continued. Iggy sighed. It was as if Roy had known that Iggy just wanted a quick peanut butter sandwich and finished off the peanut butter just to irk him.

"I guess I'll just have to have something else, then..." Iggy said before heading over to the pantry. He eventually decided to make himself a turkey and cheese sandwich instead, though he would have preferred peanut butter. He finished making the sandwich and was about to leave to go eat it when Roy called out to him.

"Hold up! Come sit next to me a moment."

Iggy, bewildered, took a seat next to Roy on top of the kitchen's center island.

"Look," Roy said, staring at Iggy with his intense crimson eyes, "I don't want you to go spreading this around, but...I actually really feel bad for you right now..."

"R-really?" Iggy marvelled. It was rare for Roy to show compassion toward anyone, including his siblings.

"Yeah," Roy continued, "I mean, what with Lemmy being kidnapped, you must feel pretty bad yourself...I just want you to know that, no matter what, I'm here for you."

Iggy smiled. Roy's face contorted into a disgusted grimace, much to Iggy's confusion.

"It took me a lot just to work up the courage to trust you like this," Roy scoffed, "so you better not tell anyone..."

"I won't," Iggy replied.

Roy then vaulted himself down off of the counter and retreated down the hall. Iggy soon did the same, having finished his sandwich rather quickly.

 _"Lemmy will be okay...Larry and I will find him...I know it."_

* * *

"Such a boring job..." the Goomba lieutenant groaned, "Why are we on the graveyard shift?"

"King Bowser needs us to do this," the young Paratroopa beside him replied, "This is all about finding his lost son and you know that."

"You're chipper for it being three in the morning..." the Goomba muttered.

"I think that, if King Bowser thinks that these truck inspections will expedite the search, then I'm all in for it," the Paratroopa said.

"Typical new recruit..." the Goomba grumbled. Just then, a semi truck pulled into the inspection station. The three occupants of the cab then filed out. There were two males, one with a bright green mohawk and the other a huge musclebound man, and one female, a scantily-dressed ginger-haired girl who looked like she belonged anywhere other than the cab of a truck. The two weren't about to question them, though. Their only job was to check the back of the truck for anything suspicious. Upon opening the back of the truck, they found nothing except just a few stray papers of little importance.

"Must've just finished a delivery," the Paratroopa muttered.

"You three are good to go," the Goomba called, slamming the doors to the back of the truck shut. He and his partner then stepped aside to let the truck go ahead.

"Such a boring job..."

* * *

"So...on a scale of one to ten, about how lost are we?"

"Shut the *** up. It's too dark for this ***."

Lemmy listened to his captors argue. They had gotten themselves hopelessly lost in the dark forest.

"What time is it?"

"Almost four in the morning."

"Why not just camp out here? We can find our way much better in the morning."

"Ugh. I'll just have to call Arrow and tell him what's up."

Soon, Lemmy was tied to a small tree and Dagger and Chaos drifted off to sleep. Lemmy looked around him. The woods were thick. All around him was a vast sea of trees. Just beside him, there was a rock. On his other side, Dagger had fallen asleep against the tree that Lemmy was tied to. Lemmy found that he could move, but only to a certain extent. If he contorted his body a certain way, he could reach the rock, but what good was that going to do him? A rock wasn't going to help him out of this.

Suddenly, Lemmy was smacked in the face by a piece of paper. It was a flier for a sale at a department store. Just then, an idea hit him. He shook the piece of paper off of his face, catching it with his foot in a quick motion before it could fly away. He had seen a pen in Dagger's pocket and, with a bit more contortion, he was able to filch it without a problem. Then, after placing the paper on the rock, he used the pen in his mouth to begin writing a message.

Lemmy was glad he'd learned how to do this. A while back, he'd decided to teach himself how to write with both hands. After becoming ambidextrous, Lemmy still wanted to be able to do more, so he'd set out to teach himself how to write with the pen in his mouth. It wasn't easy, but, soon, Lemmy could write just as well with his mouth as he could with his hands. He thought it'd never come in handy, but he was glad he was wrong.

Soon, he was finished. He let the piece of paper fly off once again.

 _"Please...someone find me..."_

* * *

Iggy awoke to the music playing from the alarm clock. He switched it off and, upon realizing that Larry was still asleep, he proceeded to grab the bed and shake it violently, jarring Larry awake in a second.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Larry shouted, "Quit it with the earthquake!"

Iggy then turned and headed toward where the serum was still boiling.

"What time is it?" Larry groaned, climbing down the ladder from the top bunk of the bed.

"It's six in the morning," Iggy replied.

"What?!" Larry cried, "Why so early?!"

"Not so loud, mushbrain! Do you want the entire castle to know we're up?!"

"No."

Larry paused before speaking again.

"Is that why we're up so early?"

"Yes," Iggy replied, switching off the burner, "We have to get out of here before anyone can take notice."

"That is, if this stuff actually works," Larry pointed out

"It'll work," Iggy replied confidently, "I know it."

"So I take it that stuff's ready now?" Larry said.

"The serum should be ready, yes," Iggy answered.

Iggy then poured half of the serum into another test tube and handed it to Larry.

"Is this really going to be enough?" Larry asked, examining the small amount of liquid in the tube.

"You only need a little bit," Iggy explained, "Now, bottoms up!"

The two Koopalings both swallowed the serum at the same time. Larry reeled back.

"Yuck! It tastes like glue!" Larry gagged.

"You'd know," Iggy teased.

In an instant, both Koopalings became completely invisible.

"It worked! It actually worked!" Larry marvelled.

"Nice call on the glue, Lem—I mean, Larry," Iggy quickly caught himself. He'd involuntarily called Larry the wrong name. Usually, when a situation like this occurred, Lemmy was usually the one Iggy was congratulating for coming up with a creative solution.

"Should we go now?" Larry finally said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Yes," Iggy answered, "It'll wear off eventually, so let's get as far away from here as we can before that happens."

Larry nodded in reply and the two were off. Iggy was wholly confident that they could find Lemmy and save him from whoever had kidnapped him. It was blind hope, sure, but he believed in it more than anything.

* * *

"Wake up, brat!"

Lemmy's eyes shot open. He didn't want a repeat of a few hours ago, so he forced himself to wake up, tired as he was. At least when he was thrown back into the truck, he could finally get some rest. Lemmy was promptly untied from the tree before he and his captors started through the forest once more.

"So where are we going, Chaos?" Dagger asked.

"Well," Chaos started, "We got ourselves pretty lost last night, so I have no idea where we even are, much less which way we're supposed to be going."

"*** the Mushroom Kingdom," Dagger spat, "I'll be so glad once we're back home."

Lemmy had found out when he was in the truck the first time that his captors were not from the Mushroom Kingdom. He knew that, if his father's army didn't find him soon, there would be little chance of them ever finding him before his captors carried out their plan to its fruition...that is, unless someone found his note.

"You," Dagger snapped at Lemmy, who immediately turned his attention to the irate delinquent, "You're from around here. How do we get out of here?"

"I-I don't know," Lemmy stuttered, "I don't know this forest at all. I-"

Lemmy was suddenly smacked across the face.

"***!" Dagger shouted, "*** this *** forest!"

Lemmy bared his teeth and tried not to cry. Dagger had hit him just where his black eye was and it hurt like crazy.

"Why did we even kidnap this brat anyway?! All he's doing is causing us trouble!" Dagger snarled.

"That was to be expected," Chaos interjected, "His father's King Koopa, after all."

"I know that, you idiot," Dagger growled.

"You want me to inject him now, Dagger?" Chaos asked, a crazed grin forming on her face. Lemmy shuddered.

"No!" Dagger screamed angrily, "I told you, no *** narcotics!"

Chaos reeled back, seeming almost nervous. Lemmy wasn't sure how to feel. One part of him felt a little sorry for Chaos, but another part was relieved that he wasn't about to be injected with some narcotic. He knew he wasn't allergic thanks to multiple experiments with Iggy, but his captors didn't need to know that.

"Stupid *** phone," Dagger cursed, "I knew I should have upgraded. If I had one of those *** smartphones, I'd have a *** GPS and we wouldn't be in this *** mess."

Chaos didn't reply. She must have been nervous to speak, thanks to Dagger's outburst. Lemmy was also reluctant to say anything. He really didn't know his way through this forest, but, even if he did, he wouldn't tell these two. He was thankful that they were lost as it gave his dad's army more time to find him. He just hoped that everything would work out.

 _"Hurry up and find me...anyone...please..."_


	3. One Shot

It was about 8 o'clock in the morning when the invisibility serum wore off. By then, Iggy and Larry were already out of the city surrounding Bowser Castle.

"You think we're far enough yet?" Larry asked, panting.

"Not even close," Iggy replied. He and his brother had run as quickly as possible, but they still needed to be farther. Now, with the invisibility serum worn off, they had to rely on stealth if they were going to get any farther.

"If we get spotted by King Dad's troops, they're going to take us back to the castle," Iggy explained, "If that happens, I don't have the resources to make another invisibility serum, so we have one shot at this."

"All right," Larry said with a nod. The two Koopalings then continued on. Soon, they arrived at another small town. They kept to the alleyways and stayed mostly on the boundaries of town.

"Once we're through here, we should be close to the Supa Koopa Highway," Iggy stated.

"There are lots of woods nearby there, aren't there?" Larry pointed out. Iggy nodded in reply. Just then, Larry was smacked in the face by a piece of paper.

"Gah!" Larry shrieked, "Get it off!"

"Quit freaking out, you baby," Iggy said, pulling the paper off of Larry's face, "It's just a flier for some department store."

"There was writing on the back of it, Iggy!" Larry said. Iggy quickly flipped the piece of paper over, gasping as he came to a realization.

"Th-this is Lemmy's writing!" Iggy marvelled, "Lemmy wrote this!"

"What's it say?!" Larry asked. Iggy then proceeded to read the letter aloud.

 _"To whoever is reading this, you have to help me. I am Prince Lemmy Koopa of the Darklands and I have been kidnapped by a group of horrible people. Up until recently, We were in a big truck driving down the Supa Koopa Highway. Now, I'm with two of my captors and we seem to be hopelessly lost in the woods. I may not know where I am now, but I know where I'm headed. If you're reading this right now, please bring this to my dad, King Bowser, so that he can get his troops to find me. We're headed far away from the Mushroom Kingdom and we're on our way to Sarasaland. They want to hold me for ransom. I'm really scared and I want to be found as soon as possible."_

Iggy quickly shoved the letter toward Larry. He then clenched his fists and bared his teeth, trying to keep from crying in front of his younger brother.

"It's okay, Iggy," Larry said, "We'll find him."

"He's really scared, Larry," Iggy growled, "Those criminals are scaring him out of his mind. He might be hurt as well."

"If we get this letter to King Dad," Larry said, "then we can get all this resolved."

"We're still going to look for him, Larry," Iggy said, "We're so close. I can sense it. We can't turn back now."

"So what do we do about the letter?!" Larry said. Iggy snatched the letter from his brother's hand and threw it back to the wind.

"What are you doing?!" Larry shouted, "We want someone to find it, don't we?!"

"Someone will find it," Iggy replied, "For now, though, it's my main objective to stay under King Dad's troops' radar until we find Lemmy."

* * *

Ludwig von Koopa awoke to the sunlight pouring into his window. He then remembered that his father had put him in charge of the castle until he got back from his search for Lemmy, so he jumped out of bed, being extremely careful not to disturb any of his papers littering the floor as he made his way out of the room. He then headed downstairs to the kitchen to find Wendy, Morton, and Roy eating cereal.

"I was going to make you all breakfast," Ludwig started, "but I guess I'm too late for that."

"Way too late," Roy said, "We got tired of waiting, so we just got some cereal."

"I might as well make something for Iggy, though," Ludwig said.

"Since when did you learn to cook anyway?" Wendy asked.

"How hard can it be?" Ludwig replied, shrugging off the question, "Where is Iggy anyway?"

"He's probably still asleep," Wendy answered, "Larry should be with him. He slept in the twins' room last night. He was going to try to help Iggy feel better about what happened to Lemmy."

"Well, can someone go get them?" Ludwig ordered.

"I'll go," Morton offered, getting up and leaving the room. Ludwig then got to work, opening up the refrigerator to grab a carton of eggs.

"I hope Iggy's not still feeling too bad about what happened," Wendy sighed.

"It's understandable why he feels that way," Ludwig responded while fishing around a cabinet to find a frying pan, "He feels like Lemmy's kidnapping wouldn't have happened if he hadn't sent Lemmy out on his own."

Ludwig reached for the knob for the burner, turning it all the way up.

"He had no idea it would happen, though," Wendy retorted, "It's not his fault at all!"

Ludwig sighed. He then opened the carton of eggs, pulling two of them out. He stared at them for a moment before placing one down on the counter and raising the other one up above the edge of the pan. He forcefully smacked the egg on the edge of the pan, which only ended up splattering egg all over the place, including onto the burner.

"Iggy's always been a bit too obsessed with Lemmy anyway," Roy said, not noticing Ludwig's mistake.

"What do you mean by that?" Wendy huffed, also oblivious to what Ludwig had done. Ludwig hurried to get some wet paper towels, completely forgetting to turn off the burner.

"All I'm saying is that it might do Iggy some good to be away from Lemmy for a while," Roy continued.

"This is hardly the situation to be saying something like that, Roy!" Wendy snapped, "Lemmy's probably scared senseless out there with those criminals!"

Once Ludwig finally turned back to the burner, there was already smoke rising from the scorched egg. He began frantically searching the room for a fire extinguisher. Finally, Wendy and Roy took notice of what was going on. Wendy quickly made for the stove and switched off the burner just as Ludwig found the fire extinguisher and sprayed its contents onto what was left of the egg. Once the deed was done, Ludwig dropped the fire extinguisher to the floor and wiped his brow, breathing a sigh of relief.

Just then, Morton entered the room again, a worried look on his face.

"They're not there," Morton said.

"What do you mean they're not there?!" Ludwig cried.

"I found this lying on the desk," Morton replied, taking out a note, "It says, 'We left to look for Lemmy ourselves. If you're good siblings, you won't tell King Dad on us.'"

"Those idiots!" Ludwig shouted, "They know King Dad told us to stay at the castle!"

"What are we going to do?!" Wendy cried.

"The only thing we can do," Ludwig replied, "We have to tell King Dad."

* * *

"Do you think we're getting closer, Iggy?" Larry asked. The two Koopalings had left the town and were now in the woods that ran along the edge of the Supa Koopa Highway.

"Yeah," Iggy replied, "I can feel it."

The two continued on a little longer. Suddenly, Iggy's foot fell on something strange. He looked down to see a pen lying on the ground.

"What in the world is that doing here?" Larry asked. Iggy reached down and picked up the pen, turning it over in his hands. That's when he noticed bite marks toward the center of the pen's plastic barrel. He had a hunch he knew where those marks might have come from.

"We have to be getting close now." he muttered.

* * *

"This is *** ridiculous," Dagger spat, "We've been walking around for hours."

Lemmy was feeling more tired than ever. He found himself stumbling more than once as he walked alongside Chaos. His vision was also beginning to cloud. He felt like he just couldn't stay awake any longer. Just then, he tripped.

* * *

Iggy and Larry continued on. Iggy knew that they had to be getting closer. Just then, they heard a voice. They immediately ducked behind some bushes

"You little ***. We're just as tired as you are. Get up," the voice said in a commanding tone.

"Who is that?" Larry whispered. Iggy said nothing, but motioned for Larry to follow as the two began to crawl closer to where the voice was coming from.

* * *

Lemmy tried to get up. Dagger loomed over him, glaring at him with a menacing look. Just then, Lemmy's arms gave out and he fell back down to the ground.

"I gave you your warning," Dagger growled, "And I'm not going to say it again."

Lemmy tried once more to get up, but he just couldn't. Once again, he fell back down.

"That's it," Dagger said, "I tried to give you a chance, but you just won't listen."

* * *

"I gave you your warning and I'm not going to say it again," the voice continued. Iggy and Larry continued on toward it.

"That's it," the voice said, "I tried to give you a chance, but you just won't listen."

It was at that moment that a piercing shriek rang through the forest. Iggy suddenly shot up and broke into a hard run.

"No! Where are you going?! Come back!" Larry cried.

* * *

"What was that?" Chaos inquired. Lemmy took the opportunity while Dagger wasn't looking to rub the spot on his arm where Dagger had kicked him. It was a hard kick and it was certainly going to leave a particularly painful bruise. He wondered what exactly Chaos had heard.

"Whatever," Dagger said eventually, "It was probably just some bird." He then turned back to Lemmy, who shrank back immediately. Dagger than grabbed Lemmy by his neck and lifted him into the air.

"Now, you little ***, I don't want you playing this whole 'I'm-too-tired-to-walk' game anymore. Got it?"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY BROTHER!" a familiar cry ripped through the forest.

" _Is it?..._ " Lemmy wondered, " _No...it can't be...can it?_ "

All of a sudden, something tore through the brush and attacked Dagger. Lemmy fell to the ground. When he sat up, he saw something he never thought he'd see. His own twin brother, Iggy, was right there in front of him fighting off his captors. Chaos pulled out a syringe to try to subdue Iggy, but Lemmy quickly vaulted himself up and lunged straight for Chaos, knocking her to the ground and causing her to drop her weapon. Just then, Lemmy noticed Dagger reach for something.

"Iggy! Look out!"

It was too late. Dagger grabbed his pistol and pressed the barrel to Iggy's forehead.

"Don't move or I'll shoot."

* * *

"Don't move or I'll shoot"

Iggy stayed as still as possible. He was breathing heavily.

"Don't hurt him!" Lemmy screamed. Iggy glanced over at his twin brother. Lemmy was covered in various bruises, including one very painful-looking black eye. The usual glow in his eyes was gone and his cheerful demeanor had been replaced with one of gloomy desperation.

"It's too late for that," the man said, shoving Iggy back with the gun. Iggy was trembling and there was sweat running down his forehead.

"Can I at least talk to him first?" Lemmy begged.

"...Fine," the man said, "I'll allow for that. You have two minutes starting now."

* * *

"Why?"

Lemmy asked the one question he really wanted to know the answer to, "Why did you come all the way out here?"

"I..." Iggy began, tears welling up in his eyes, "I thought I could save you."

"Even though King Dad told us to stay put..." another voice said. Just then, Larry emerged from his hiding place in the bushes.

"You too, Larry?" Lemmy asked.

"I just came along for the ride..." Larry said.

"You stay put too!" Dagger barked at Larry. Larry jumped, but quickly calmed down.

"Please don't hurt them," Lemmy begged once more, "It's me you want, not them."

"Don't give up like this, Lemmy," Iggy said. He then slowly placed his hands on his shoulders. Immediately, Lemmy knew what was going on.

"I-I'm sorry I never finished those errands, Iggy. I kind of forgot."

"It's okay, Lemmy. It's not your fault." Iggy's right hand slowly slid back until it was inside his shell.

"Because of me, we'll never be able to finish that-" Lemmy paused, then glanced over at Larry.

"Invisibility serum?" Iggy said with a smile, "It's okay. Larry knows."

"Thirty seconds," Dagger growled, placing his finger on the trigger. Lemmy watched as, behind Dagger, small vines began to grow up out of the ground.

"Dagger..." Chaos muttered. She must have noticed as well.

"What?" Dagger snapped. The vines were beginning to grow larger.

"Dagger! Behind you!" Chaos shouted. One of the vines shot out and grabbed Dagger's gun.

"***!" Dagger cried as he leaped out of the way of another vine that tried to attack him. Iggy stood, a crazed grin on his face.

"This will teach you what happens when you mess with a Koopaling!" Iggy said, pulling out his magic wand. Larry whipped out his magic wand as well.

"***! Chaos! Grab the kid!" Dagger yelled. Chaos immediately did as she was told and yanked Lemmy up off the ground, throwing him over her shoulder as the two criminals started on a mad dash through the forest. Lemmy saw Iggy just behind them in hot pursuit.

"Come on, Iggy! You can do it!" Lemmy cried. Iggy held his wand out at the two criminals and it started to glow as it collected power. Just then, there was a shot as Iggy's wand was knocked out of his hand and another as Iggy fell to the ground.

"Iggy! No!"


	4. Standing at the Door

Iggy struggled to push himself up. He watched as Lemmy's captors got away with his twin brother in tow. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay Iggy? Are you hurt?"

"I'm just fine, Larry," Iggy said, "He just barely missed my foot."

"Where's your wand?" Larry asked.

"Over there, I think," Iggy answered, pointing backwards. Sure enough, a little ways back, Iggy's wand lay on the ground. Just then, a couple of Goomba foot-soldiers burst through the underbrush.

"Princes Iggy and Larry?! What are you doing out here?!"

"Wh-what are you doing out here?!" Larry said, turning their own question back on them.

"We heard a commotion out here along with a couple of gunshots. Now, what are you doing here?"

Just then, more soldiers emerged, including more Goombas and a few Koopa Troopas and Paratroopas. Larry looked truly stumped as to what to say next. One of the Koopa Troopas came forward and grabbed Larry on the arm. Just as he did, though, Iggy bolted forward, running as quickly as possible. He heard the soldiers call out after him, but he just kept running. Nothing was going to keep him from rescuing Lemmy now. Nothing.

* * *

Lemmy choked back sobs as he and his captors got steadily farther from his brother. Now that he knew his twin brother had gotten himself involved in this mess, he felt guilty.

"Can it, brat. I didn't kill your brother," Dagger snarled, "He should be fine."

"Y-you mean it?" Lemmy said.

Dagger said nothing. Lemmy was astonished. ~He thought for sure that Dagger would have killed Iggy, given the chance. Did Dagger just miss, or was he really showing mercy?

"There!" Chaos suddenly cried, "There it is! The truck with Arrow and the others!"

"Finally," Dagger said, "I've had enough of this stupid *** forest."

"There you are!" Arrow called out, "We've been waiting for you guys for practically a forever!"

"Get someone else to sit in the back with the brat," Dagger growled at Arrow, "Because I am not putting up with that little *** any longer."

"Fine!" Arrow said defensively, "Jeez! Bruise can take over!"

"How come you never make Princess Perfect do anything?" Chaos said.

"Bruise is just better-equipped for the job," Arrow replied. Dagger rolled his eyes in reply.

"Bruise. Chaos," Arrow ordered, "Take the kid back to the back of the truck."

"Yes, sir," Bruise said before taking Lemmy from Chaos.

"Why did you take him? I had him just fine," Chaos said, pouting. Bruise ignored her and continued on toward the truck. Soon, everyone was situated and the truck set off once more, bound for Sarasaland. Lemmy decided that a nap was long overdue and decided to take a rest. Soon enough, the little Koopaling had drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ludwig stood at the door to his father's war room. Behind him stood Wendy, Morton, and Roy.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Wendy asked, "Won't it just worry King Dad more to know that he's now missing three of his children instead of just one?"

"Well, it's better for him to know now rather than later," Ludwig replied. Just as he was about to knock on the door, though, they heard footsteps coming from down the hall. They turned to see two Koopatrol guards with Larry in tow.

"Larry!" Ludwig called.

"Where were you?!" Wendy cried.

"W-with Iggy," Larry stuttered. He was obviously scared about having to face his father after so blatantly disobeying his orders.

"Wait a minute," Ludwig said suddenly, "Where _is_ Iggy?" Larry was silent for a moment before finally answering.

"He ran away. They tried to stop him, but he was too fast for them. He's still trying to rescue Lemmy."

"He's still out there, then," Ludwig mused, "Which means I'm still going to have to tell King Dad that he's missing."

"I'll tell him," Larry interjected, "After all, if it weren't for me, he wouldn't be out there in the first place. I'm not the one who gave him the idea to go, but I did help him finish the invisibility potion that helped us escape."

"So that's what you were doing last night with the vinegar and the glue!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Well, if you want to try to explain things to King Dad, be my guest."

Larry shrunk back a little, then began toward the door to the war room.

"Come on," Ludwig said to Wendy, Morton, and Roy, "We should go."

"No way!" Roy said, "I wanna hear this!"

"Me too!" Morton chimed in.

"I'm somewhat curious too," Wendy added. Ludwig sighed.

"All right. We'll stay."

* * *

Larry stopped at the door. He was scared to death of the scolding his father would give him. Even so, he knew that Iggy was in danger and telling his father what he knew could help get both him and Lemmy back. He extended his hand toward the door, but stopped.

"What's the matter?" Roy teased, "Chickening out?"

Larry didn't reply. He was thinking. Doing this almost didn't seem right.

"C-can I tell you guys what happened first?" Larry said, "Just so I can tell what I should say to King Dad and what I shouldn't mention at all?"

"I guess so," Wendy answered.

"Fire away!" Morton said enthusiastically.

"Well," Larry began, "After we escaped the castle, not a lot happened until we reached the woods along the Supa Koopa Highway. You see, we were just going through when we heard a voice. After that, we heard a scream."

"A scream?!" Wendy exclaimed, "That sounds horrid!"

"Whose scream was it?" Ludwig asked, betraying his true curiosity in the matter.

"Believe it or not," Larry continued, "It was actually Lemmy's."

"You found Lemmy?!" the other Koopalings exclaimed at once.

"We did. Iggy ran out and attacked the bad guys, but one of them got a hold of a gun and almost shot Iggy in the head."

"Oh my gosh!" Wendy cried.

"He's not hurt!" Larry quickly interjected in an effort to quell his siblings' worries, "But the bad guys did get away. Some soldiers came and got me then, but Iggy ran off. Lemmy said that the bad guys were going to take him all the way out to Sarasaland."

"All the way out there?" Ludwig said.

"And Iggy's...following them...alone..." Larry trailed off. Things were silent for a moment. Larry couldn't help but think of how Iggy was doing out there. How was he going to handle himself out there without someone to keep him from doing something stupid? What if he managed to find those criminals again and something even worse that last time ended up happening?

Just as Ludwig was about to speak again, Larry suddenly shot up and ran off.

"Larry! What are you doing?!" Ludwig called out after him.

"I'm going back out there to find him!" Larry called back. It's what he should have done from the start. He was never all for Iggy's harebrained scheme, but he knew that, if he didn't support Iggy now, things would go downhill fast. The young Koopaling dodged by guard after guard with amazing agility before finally getting out of the palace and racing through town.

"Please, Iggy...Don't have gotten to far without me..."

* * *

Iggy stumbled out of the forest. He was on the verge of hyperventilating. He'd run just about the whole way just to try to get away from the soldiers pursuing him. Ahead of him lay the Supa Koopa Highway. He decided that, at this point, the fastest way to catch up with Lemmy would be to hitchhike and try to catch up with the truck that was carrying him.

"It's worth a shot."

He stepped toward the edge of the road. He was never going to catch up to Lemmy unless he could do this quickly...which could never be guaranteed in a situation like the one Iggy was in now.

* * *

Larry ran until he was in the small town he and Iggy had arrived in earlier that day. The sun was beginning to set and he was worried about leaving Iggy out there at night. He wanted to keep running, but his legs felt like jelly and he felt like he'd pass out at any second. He wasn't worried about stealth anymore, so he decided that just continuing straight through town would be his fastest alternative. Just then, he ran into someone he didn't even notice was there.

"I'm so sorry," Larry said, "I just..." The young Koopaling suddenly trailed off. He had suddenly noticed that the person he'd run into wasn't just some ordinary person.

"Aren't you one of the Koopalings?"

"Y-yes ma'am," Larry said. He almost couldn't believe he was standing right in front of Princess Daisy.

"Yeah, you were at the last set of Grand Prix races, weren't you?" Daisy continued.

"Wh-what are you doing in a place like this?" Larry stuttered.

"I just came out here in hopes of speaking with your father, Bowser," Daisy said, "Believe it or not, even though he kidnaps Princess Peach all the time, the Darklands actually has pretty good trade relationships with the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom, so I came to discuss trade negotiations between the Darklands and Sarasaland."

"Oh yeah!" Larry exclaimed, "You're the princess of Sarasaland, aren't you?"

"Of course!" Daisy replied, "I certainly don't look like the princess of Yoshi's Island, do I?"

"You have to help me!" Larry said hurriedly, "My brother, Lemmy, has been kidnapped and my other brother, Iggy, went out after him! The bad guys are on their way to Sarasaland right now!"

"What?!" Daisy cried, "How did that happen?!"

"It's a really long story," Larry replied, "Iggy sent Larry out on some errand and Lemmy got kidnapped in the process. Then, Iggy got it in his head that he could just go out there on his own and try to rescue him. They're both in danger. Since those criminals are headed to Sarasaland, I thought you might be able to help. Please! I don't have anyone else to turn to!"

"Of course I'll help!" Daisy answered.

"Really?!" Larry marveled. He didn't expect Daisy to actually agree to his request.

"Yeah!" Daisy continued, "If those criminals are from Sarasaland, then they're my problem too! Now come on! Let's go before they get away!"

"O-okay!"

Larry was stunned. He hadn't expected things to go this easily for him, but, now that he had Princess Daisy on his side, nothing could stop him from setting things right once and for all.

* * *

Lemmy sat staring at the wall, having woken up about a half hour ago. He wasn't paying attention to anything Chaos and Bruise were doing behind him. All he could think about was how Iggy might be doing. He knew Iggy wouldn't stop his search now, which worried Lemmy.

"Hey, kid," Chaos called to him. Lemmy immediately whirled around and saw that she had a deck of cards in her hand.

"Are you sure about this, Chaos?" Bruise said, worriedly. Chaos scoffed, not even sparing Bruise a look.

"You wanna play cards with us, kid?" Chaos asked, a smirk spreading across her face. Lemmy stared at her in disbelief, stunned by her sudden offer of kindness. After a moment and with a bit of hesitation, he made his way over to where Chaos and Bruise were sitting. Chaos motioned for Bruise to hand her something, which turned out to be a knife. With the knife, Chaos cut away the ropes that bound Lemmy's hands.

"Is this really a good idea?" Bruise questioned one again.

"Relax, you big lug," Chaos said, "It's not like the kid's gonna try to escape. Arrow said he dropped his magic wand back where we captured him and there's not much he can do without it or any other weapons."

Lemmy knew she was right. There wasn't really much he could do. If he even attempted to escape, he'd be punished again, and that was something he didn't want to happen.

"Arrow isn't gonna like it if he sees the kid untied," Bruise pointed out.

"Quit being so negative," Chaos said, dismissing Bruise's concerns. She then quickly dealt out a hand of cards to Lemmy, Bruise, and herself, explaining that they'd be playing Hearts. Lemmy didn't really know how to play a lot of card games, including Hearts, so Chaos ended up having to teach the little Koopaling how to play. There were a lot of really complicated rules, but Lemmy was eventually able to pick it up, and, even though Bruise let loose a stream of profanities every time Chaos beat him, Lemmy was still having a lot of fun.

"Are you good friends with your brother?" Chaos suddenly asked Lemmy in the middle of one of their games. The question stunned Lemmy for a second, but he quickly regained himself and answered.

"Wh-why do you ask?" Lemmy replied, hesitant to answer Chaos' question.

"I'm just curious," Chaos said, "I mean, he did try to rescue you and all."

Lemmy stared at Chaos in bewilderment for a moment, then finally decided to answer her question.

"Yeah. We're together a lot and we're really close."

"Sounds like you have it good," Chaos said with a downcast expression.

"Really?" Lemmy replied, "Why do you say that?"

"You see, My family's all dead except for my brother," Chaos explained, "When they died, he decided to take it upon himself to take care of me. I listened to everything he said like he was really my father. Eventually, the two of us turned to theft to make ends meet. It was getting hard to even find something to eat, so stealing became a necessity for us."

Lemmy listened attentively. He felt truly sorry for Chaos, even though she and the rest of her gang had kidnapped him. She was actually opening up to him and Lemmy almost felt like he could trust her.

"Really, that's how this gang got started," Chaos continued, "We met up with others like us and decided we'd try to make it to a better life together. I chose the name Chaos and my brother became the leader of the group, Arrow."

Lemmy was taken aback. Chaos and Arrow were actually sister and brother?! It definitely explained the motive behind her earlier question about Iggy and Lemmy's relationship.

"At first, it was just me, Arrow, Bruise, and Dagger," Chaos went on, "The four of us were together for years and we practically counted each other as family, but that all changed once Poison entered the picture. None of us really knows what happened after that. One day, out of the blue, Arrow brings home a hooker and everything goes to pot. We started fighting with each other more often, and I haven't gotten along with Arrow at all ever since."

Everything was silent for a moment, save for the ambient noise of the truck making its way down the highway.

"I'm...so sorry," Lemmy finally said, breaking the silence.

"It's fine," Chaos sighed, "It's not like you had any part in this."

There was another long moment of silence.

"So, what's your real name?" Lemmy eventually dared to ask.

"Eloise," Chaos answered, "Eloise Wilson."

"I think that's a really pretty name," Lemmy replied with a smile. Chaos smiled back. It was a very sincere smile, making Lemmy feel warm inside. It was the first little bit of happiness he'd felt since he'd been kidnapped. All of a sudden, the truck jerked to a stop, sending the three in its back tumbling to the floor in a flurry of flying playing cards. The door flew open and Arrow hopped inside.

"Some *** back when we were stopped managed to see us with the kid. They got our license plate number and now the cops are after us."

"What?!" Chaos cried, immediately sitting up straight. Bruise got up quickly and helped Chaos up off of the floor while Lemmy began to get up himself.

"What the *** is the kid doing untied?!" Arrow spat angrily. Lemmy involuntarily jerked backward. He'd completely forgotten that he should have still been restrained.

"That's my fault, Arrow," Chaos said, "We were just playing a game of cards. I knew he wouldn't try to escape, so I-"

"What if he did manage to escape?" Arrow said, steaming, "Think next time, Chaos, before you really *** something up."

"Sorry, Arrow," Chaos said, looking hurt. Lemmy could only wonder what she was thinking.

"We're going to have to continue on foot," Arrow said, "We only have a little ways to go before we cross the border into Sarasaland, but we're going to have to cross a bridge to get there."

"Once we're there and we get to Birabuto, we're home free," Bruise commented.

"Exactly," Arrow replied, "Now, let's move."


	5. A Daring Rescue

Iggy trudged down the shoulder of the Supa Koopa Highway. His attempts at hitchhiking to Sarasaland hadn't been going well, despite his status as prince of the Darklands. He was getting tired, as he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, due to both waking up so early to initiate the invisibility serum plan and the nightmare he'd had. He was close to collapsing right there, but he knew he had to keep going. Lemmy was still in trouble and Iggy's conscience wouldn't let him sleep until he knew that Lemmy was safe and sound.

Just then, Iggy tripped. He hadn't noticed the large tire shred in his path through the darkness and had stumbled over it, landing face-first on the unforgiving asphalt. Tears began to stream from his eyes. How was he ever going to catch up to Lemmy and his captors at this rate? He then screamed, putting all of his anger and desperation into the action. Afterwards, he collapsed to the ground, letting his racking sobs overtake him. He was hopelessly lost and he was no closer to rescuing Lemmy than when he was back at the castle. His father was probably worried sick about him and Lemmy was probably terrified to know that Iggy was out here like this.

Suddenly, he felt someone's presence right next to him. He pushed himself up off of the ground and looked up to find none other than Princess Daisy herself standing right next to him. She was holding her hand out to him in order to help him up, which he quickly accepted.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Iggy stuttered, marvelling at the princess' presence. He barely stopped to think that he was completely unpresentable as he was now, especially in front of a princess.

"I heard about Lemmy's kidnapping," Daisy explained, "I'm here to help."

"You are?!" Iggy exclaimed.

"Come on!" Daisy said, heading back to the car she'd come from, "We don't have time to lose! We've got to hurry if we want to head them off before they get to Sarasaland!"

Iggy immediately followed, hopping into the small car just behind Princess Daisy. Once inside, he found Larry sitting there as well.

"Larry!" Iggy marvelled, "You were behind this?!"

"I sure was!" Larry said with a smirk, "I escaped the castle and managed to find Princess Daisy and get her to agree to help!"

"Princess!" a voice suddenly called. Iggy quickly noticed that the front part of the car where the driver was sitting was separated from the rest of the car by a screen. Iggy guessed that the voice must have been said driver.

"What's up?" Daisy replied.

"They've figured out the license plate number of the criminals' truck," the driver replied, "Should I converge on where the reports say the truck was going?"

"Go for it, Pionpi," Daisy said. Immediately, the car roared to life and sped off down the highway in search of Lemmy Koopa.

* * *

Bowser was completely enraged. At the same time, though, he was both terrified and baffled. He'd just received the news that now, not only was Lemmy missing, but Iggy and Larry were missing as well. He'd also been told that Larry had been returned, only to have him escape again. Bowser couldn't believe what he was hearing at first, but, when Ludwig told him the story he said Larry had told him, he didn't know how to feel.

"We tried to stop him, father, I promise," Ludwig explained, "But he just took off without so much as a warning."

All of a sudden, a Koopatrol guard burst into the room.

"King Bowser, sir!" the Koopatrol said, "You have an incoming message from Princess Daisy!"

"Princess Daisy?" Bowser repeated in confusion. The Koopatrol handed Bowser a phone before bowing and taking his leave.

"What is it, Daisy?" Bowser snarled, "I don't have time for a lot of nonsense right now. I'm in the middle of a crisis."

"I know your son was kidnapped, Bowser," Daisy said, "I'm on my way to find him right now."

"What?!" Bowser exclaimed. How could Daisy possibly know?

"I have two of your other sons with me: Iggy and Larry, I believe," Daisy continued, "The three of us are going to find Lemmy and bring him home."

"Iggy and Larry are with you?!" Bowser repeated, stunned by the revelation. Just then, he realized the gravity of the situation and he quickly collected himself and focused his attention back on the situation at hand.

"Bring my sons home right now," Bowser snarled.

"I can't do that," Daisy replied.

"You do know that, if you don't return them, you're technically guilty of kidnapping them, don't you?" Bowser growled, growing more irritated with the Sarasaland princess by the minute.

"I guess I'm guilty then," Daisy said, "I made a promise to them, though, that I'd help them find their brother, and I don't intend to back out of that promise now."

"At least let me talk to them," Bowser ordered. ~Things were silent on Daisy's end for a minute before Daisy finally replied.~

"They told me they don't want to."

"What?!" Bowser yelled, "I don't care what they want! Let me talk to them now!"

"Sorry! You're breaking up!" Daisy said, making a weak excuse before hanging up. Bowser growled, almost crushing the phone in his grip.

"I want Princess Daisy found at all costs!" Bowser shouted, "I want my sons brought home and I want Princess Daisy brought into custody! She'll pay for doing this to me!"

* * *

Lemmy was being shoved along by Dagger, who didn't seem to happy with the job he'd been assigned. Occasionally, Dagger would curse under his breath, these usually including strong profanities aimed against the little Koopaling. Since there wasn't anything left to tie Lemmy up again with, Lemmy was being led along with Dagger's pistol pointed at the back of his head. The little Koopaling was terrified to make a wrong move because he knew it would result with a bullet being embedded in his skull. As a result, Lemmy didn't dare to even speak. He just let Dagger lead him along as the group made their way toward the bridge spanning the waters between the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland. He occasionally glanced over at Chaos, but she seemed extremely melancholy. She also seemed to be trying her best not to look back at Lemmy, which made Lemmy feel sorry for what had happened.

"How much longer do we have to go?" Poison whined, "My feet are killing me."

"You're not the one who had to make their way through a *** forest and get absolutely *** lost last night." Dagger pointed out, seeming to be growing more and more testy.

"Lay off Poison," Arrow warned Dagger.

"Why should we?" Chaos spoke up. Arrow seemed shocked by Chaos' snide remark

"Because," Arrow explained, "She's a member of this gang just like all of the rest of us and she should be treated with the same amount of respect."

"Ugh," Chaos groaned, "Do I look like I care? That *** *** can kiss my ***."

Both Arrow and Poison immediately stopped. Dagger stopped shortly after, surprising Lemmy, who halted so quickly he almost fell over. He was terrified that Dagger would call him out for it, but Dagger seemed too preoccupied with the fight getting ready to occur to care that Lemmy hadn't stopped moving when he was supposed to. Bruise, not getting what was going on, almost went on ahead before realizing that everyone else had stopped.

"What did you just say about me?!" Poison exclaimed.

"You heard me!" Chaos shouted, "I called you a ***! Are you going to lift a finger to do something about it, or are you just going to let Arrow do all your dirty work like you always do?!"

"What is your problem?!" Poison snarled.

"My problem is you!" Chaos spat, "You don't belong with us! You're just some prostitute Arrow picked up off the street who's been ruining us from the inside out!"

"Chaos!" Arrow yelled, "What the *** has gotten into you?!"

"What's gotten into you, Arrow?!" Chaos retorted, turning Arrow's question back on him, "It used to just be you, me, Bruise, and Dagger, and I was okay with that. After you let that prissy *** join, though, you began to care more about her than anyone else! It's *** annoying, Arrow!"

"You never brought this up before!" Arrow retorted.

"Well, I guess I decided I'd finally had enough." Chaos said with a huff. Arrow was about to make another remark, but decided to hold his tongue. He then turned and continued on, Bruise following close behind. Poison shot Chaos a nasty glare before continuing on as well. Lemmy and Dagger were the last to advance. Dagger, for whatever reason, seemed to be in a better mood.

"Finally," Lemmy heard Dagger mutter under his breath, "Finally, someone gave that *** a taste of her own medicine."

* * *

Iggy stared out the window at the streetlights whizzing past, leaving blurs of dim light in the darkness of the night, as Princess Daisy's car sped down the Supa Koopa Highway. His eyelids felt heavy, but he was kept awake by the fear of having another nightmare like the one he'd had the night before. Beside him, Daisy and Larry were talking about various things he didn't care about.

All of a sudden, the car jerked to a stop. Iggy almost fell out of his seat, but he managed to hang on.

"Pionpi!" Daisy called, "What's going on out there?!"

"I'm so sorry, my princess," Pionpi answered, "But I've spotted the truck."

"What?!" Daisy, Larry, and Iggy all exclaimed at once.

"Unfortunately," Pionpi continued, "It seems to be completely abandoned."

The three passengers were struck speechless. Upon exiting the car, though, they found Pionpi's statement to be true. The only things left in the back of the truck were a few unimportant papers, some shreds of what used to be rope, and a scattered deck of playing cards.

"They must have continued on foot," Daisy deduced, "We might be close."

Those words immediately brightened Iggy's mood. They were definitely close. Iggy could feel it.

"There's only one bridge to Sarasaland in the near vicinity," Daisy continued, "We can head them off and catch them there."

"That's a great idea!" Larry chimed in, "Instead of trying to catch up to them, we wait for them to come to us!"

"I'll get some backup to come and support us when Lemmy's kidnappers arrive," Princess Daisy said. She then went to talk to Pionpi about the matter. Iggy was ecstatic. Lemmy would be found soon. All they needed to do was bide their time and wait for him to come to them.

* * *

Lemmy found himself once again staring at Chaos. No one in the group had said anything since Chaos, Arrow, and Poison's argument, so things were tensely silent. It made Lemmy feel extremely uncomfortable. Of course, having Dagger's pistol constantly pressed against his skull didn't help the matter much.

"We're almost there," Arrow suddenly said, breaking the silence. No one said anything in reply, though. After a couple more moments, Arrow suddenly reeled back.

"Dagger!" Arrow called, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper, "Make sure the kid will stay quiet!"

Dagger, keeping the pistol pressed to Lemmy's head, immediately slapped his hand over Lemmy's mouth.

"What's wrong?" Poison asked.

"It's Princess Daisy and her entourage," Arrow snarled, "They're just sitting there in front of the entrance to the bridge."

"What in the world are they doing there?!" Poison exclaimed in a whisper.

"I don't know," Arrow said, "All I know is that we won't be getting past them any time soon."

"***," Dagger cursed. Lemmy's hope began to rise. Could this mean he'd be found soon?

"We'll sit here and wait. We'll see if they leave any time soon," Arrow said, "If not, we're going to have to find another way into Sarasaland."

* * *

Iggy sat beside his brother on the hood of Princess Daisy's car. The two of them said nothing to each other. Instead, both of them were deep in thought. Iggy was trying to think of exactly what he'd say to Lemmy when he saw him again. It wouldn't be long now.

All of a sudden, there was a roar in the distance. Immediately, everyone's attention turned to the mass of soldiers marching toward them. At the forefront of them all, though, was Lord Bowser himself.

"Oh no," Iggy muttered. Larry immediately grabbed Iggy's hand and squeezed it tightly. Iggy would have loved to have been able to have another dose of that invisibility serum in that moment.

"Stand your ground!" Daisy ordered her own troops.

"We're dead," Larry said, beginning to panic, "We're so so so dead."

"Not as dead as if those criminals show up and King Dad's temper flares up and out of control," Iggy replied with a shudder.

* * *

"What's all the commotion out there?" Dagger asked. Lemmy's kidnappers had managed to find a long vine hanging from a tree nearby and had used it to tie Lemmy to a tree. For a gag, they'd decided to use Arrow' shirt. Lemmy felt very uncomfortable, but still held hope that Daisy would catch on that he and his captors were in the brush nearby.

"Is that Bowser?!" Arrow exclaimed in shock. Lemmy perked up. Now, not only was Daisy here, but his own father was as well. He wanted so badly to scream for them, but the gag prevented him from doing so. Knowing, though, that they were right there frustrated the poor little Koopaling so badly that he could barely stand it.

"What are they doing out there?" Poison asked confusedly. Lemmy really wanted to see what was going on, but he couldn't from where he was, so he had to rely on his captors to tell him what was happening.

"It looks like they're getting ready to fight," Arrow said. Lemmy was baffled. Why did his father want to fight against Princess Daisy?

"Bowser's pointing to the car," Poison said.

"Wait a minute!" Dagger exclaimed, "Those two! Those are those two *** that attacked me and Chaos in the forest!"

Lemmy was in shock. He couldn't possibly be talking about Iggy and Larry, could he? It was the only logical explanation, but Lemmy couldn't believe it.

"You're kidding!" Arrow said.

"No," Dagger said, "I'm telling the truth. They're two of those other Koopalings, the tall, green one and the short, blue-haired one."

It was true. That was undoubtedly Iggy and Larry. Now Lemmy was more convinced than ever that they were there to find him, but why the fighting?

All of a sudden, Dagger let out a grunt, snapping Lemmy out of his daydreaming. He quickly realized that Chaos had grabbed a heavy tree branch and swung it at Dagger, knocking him unconscious. Before the other gang members had any time to react, Chaos grabbed Dagger's pistol and fired a shot into the air.

"What are you doing, you *** idiot?!" Arrow shouted in a panic. Chaos didn't reply, but, instead, proceeded to punch Arrow in the face. She then turned and pointed the pistol at Poison, still keeping her gaze fixed on her brother.

"Bruise! Do something!" Arrow called, holding a hand over his bleeding nose. Bruise seemed baffled at what to do about the situation and, as such, was able to do absolutely nothing. Lemmy was baffled as well. What exactly was going on?

* * *

Everyone had heard the shot that had just gone off and everyone was struck silent because of it. Bowser and Daisy had stopped their arguing and Iggy and Larry marvelled. In an instant, the criminals had given away their location. It seemed almost too good to be true. Iggy immediately began to run toward where the shot had come from, but was quickly stopped by Bowser, who went on ahead of him. Larry followed just behind Iggy and the three went to investigate what exactly the sound was.

* * *

Lemmy stared in shock at the scene unfolding in front of him. Was this actually happening? Could Chaos actually be trying to help him?

All of a sudden, the brush spontaneously burst into flame. The criminals all immediately lunged backward, Arrow grabbing Dagger before he could be hurt. As the brush burned away, a large, menacing figure emerged from the ashes. Lemmy knew that figure from anywhere. It was his own father...So why did he feel even more fear than before?

* * *

Iggy watched as his father went after the criminals that had kidnapped Lemmy. Suddenly, he noticed Lemmy tied to a tree off to the side. He immediately raced toward his twin brother and began to try to work the gag off of him. He eventually managed to undo the knot and pull the gag off. He then began trying to untie the knot on the vine that secured Lemmy to the tree.

"Thank you so much, Iggy," Lemmy said with a weak smile.

Iggy smiled back at his twin brother. They were finally together again.

* * *

"Thank you so much, Iggy," Lemmy said with a weak smile. He saw Iggy smile back, but his thoughts wasn't fully there. All of a sudden, he heard Chaos scream. She, Arrow, and Poison were backed against a tree. Dagger lay at their feet, still unconscious, blood trickling from an open wound where Chaos had hit him. Bruise stood in front of all of them, trying to defend them. It was obvious, though, that he stood no chance, as Bowser towered over him. Bowser immediately knocked Bruise aside, sending him tumbling to the ground with claw marks raked across his face. He then began toward Chaos, Arrow, and Poison.

Lemmy began to struggle against his bonds. Iggy seemed surprised, but finally managed to work the knot loose. As the makeshift rope began to come loose, Lemmy stood and broke into a run. He immediately ran in front of Chaos just as his father was about to strike her. The blow that was meant for Chaos instead came down on Lemmy and it sent the little Koopaling collapsing to the ground.

"Lemmy! No!" he heard Iggy scream. It was also the last thing he heard as he slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

Bowser reeled back. He hadn't meant to hit Lemmy. Now, though, as his son lay in front of him, struck unconscious by his own hand, he was absolutely horrified at himself.

"Someone! Anyone! He needs a doctor! Someone help him, please!"


	6. The Curtains Fall

It was a little less than a day before Lemmy finally awoke. He found himself in the infirmary back at the castle. He was finally home. Sitting next to him was his own father, along with Iggy.

"Thank goodness you're all right," Bowser said. Lemmy could see tears beginning to trickle from his eyes.

"He insisted on staying here at your bedside ever since we got back to the castle," Iggy explained, "I would have done the same, but the others had so many questions for me and Larry that we were swamped the entire rest of yesterday."

Lemmy smiled. Everything was finally back to normal.

"I'm so sorry," Bowser said, "You know that I never meant to-"

"It's okay," Lemmy interrupted, smiling to show his father that he held no resentment toward him. He then remembered why he'd taken the blow in the first place.

"What did you do with them?" Lemmy asked, "The kidnappers, I mean."

"They're in the castle dungeon," Bowser replied. Lemmy breathed a sigh of relief. His plan had worked after all.

"I hope you're ready for the others to ask you what being kidnapped was like," Iggy said with a smirk. Lemmy giggled. Everything was going to be all right from here on out.

* * *

Lemmy made his way down the steep, stone staircase. He was on his way to the castle dungeon. After hours of recalling his experience to his siblings, he was finally ready for this. As he made his way down the dank hallway, he checked cell after cell. Finally, after a while, he found the cell he was looking for.

"Hi," Lemmy said shyly.

"What are you doing here?" Chaos asked.

"I came to see you," Lemmy said with a smile, "I wanted to say thank you for what you did for me. You saved me."

"Well, you saved me too," Chaos replied, "Your father would've killed all of us if it weren't for you. Of course, I guess both of our rescue attempts didn't go without any repercussions, though."

Lemmy knew that Chaos was referring to him being knocked unconscious by his father.

"It was nothing, really," Lemmy said, "I just really wanted to help you out."

"Why?"

"You helped me be found. I couldn't have asked for anything more than that."

"I guess so..."

"Why did you help me?"

"Because...I..."

Chaos trailed off, her gaze slowly shifting to the floor. Lemmy wondered what exactly she was going to say.

"Well," Lemmy said, "I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about all this."

"It was never your fault," Chaos replied, "It was ours. We deserve every minute here."

"You don't," Lemmy said. Chaos' gaze darted back toward him, her face growing flush.

"What do you mean by that?" Chaos asked.

"I don't think you're really all that bad, Chaos," Lemmy answered, "In fact, I don't think any of you are really that bad. You're just a little misguided, is all. With a bit of time, I think that all of you can eventually come around."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Maybe," Lemmy continued, "You and Arrow can even become friends again."

Chaos stared blankly at Lemmy, her eyes wide.

"D-do you really think so?" Chaos stuttered.

"Of course I do," Lemmy said, "I believe in you, Chaos."

There was another moment of silence.

"Thank you, Lemmy."

"You're welcome," Lemmy replied with a smile. Chaos stared at him for a moment longer before finally speaking again.

"Y-you should go before your father finds out you're down here."

"All right," Lemmy said hesitantly. He was sad to be leaving, but Chaos' smile told him it was all right.

"Goodbye...Eloise."

Lemmy then smiled and ran off, leaving behind a madly blushing Chaos.

"Bye...Lemmy."


End file.
